Day 241 More than Less

When I was growing up, there weren’t a lot of extras. There simply wasn’t money for them. The reality of living on less was part of my life early on and became a habit I kept as a young adult. Years of college and grad school put the skills my mother modeled to good use: buying generic, looking for sales, and cooking from scratch. Not having much as a child made me realize that I could live without most things.

There are some definite benefits to living simply. One thing it’s given me is freedom. Most of what I own cost me very little: it’s used stuff that I picked up here and there, so if it falls apart or breaks down, it’s not a big deal—it’s like I’m borrowing it anyway! When I move, I leave many things behind, turning them into farewell gifts for my neighbors and friends who can use them.  It’s a joy to share with others what I’ve been given. Living simply can mean living with less anxiety about stuff and fosters a wonderful simplicity.

Living with less has also given me freedom in terms of time. Because I don’t need a lot of money, I don’t have to work like crazy just to pay the bills—and I can choose to do work that I love instead of needing to work just to pay for the stuff I already have or to get new stuff.

But, as much good as “living with less” does for me, it can also be a kind of idol at times. Somehow my brain got wired into thinking that in an ideal world, spending less is always better when actually less is not always better and cheap is not always good.

Sometimes what is cheap or less actually hides other costs. Cheap sometimes translates to pain or hardship for someone else. Cheap can mean more work or more repairs and hassles. Cheap also sometimes translates into less healthy—and that can be more costly down the road.

For all the good of living simply, a love of “cheap” can get in the way of understanding and living out the extravagance of God: being too cheap means that I can spoil other's joy by not going out or not giving to others. Certainly, God wants us to use the resources He gives us wisely, but that shouldn’t come at the cost of honoring others or delighting in the good gifts He gives us.